DCNF, TV Upfront Presenters Need to Understand That Content’s Kingdom is Changing

Today’s viewers don’t differentiate between "traditional" and "digital." Today’s viewers watch what they want, when they want. The average consumer is not thinking about whether it’s scripted or unscripted, user-generated or premium. They care that it’s funny, interesting, gripping or cool. Brands need to recognize the power of those four adjectives, and take risks alongside…

Unpopular grammar rules

Language is a fluid, living social construct. The rules of grammar were not carved on stone tablets and handed down by God. They were created by human beings who had observations about how language works, and opinions about how it should work. “Subject pronoun,” “predicate nominative,” and the like are almost insider terms, ones that…

How it feels to watch a user test your product for the first time

Jonathon Shariat. Similar:Stanford to offer new undergraduate majors integrating humanities, computer scienceTraining humanists who can code like a t…AcademiaThe iPad Falls Short of Expectations—But What Does That Mean? The iPad market is saturated. Table…BusinessClickbait Tactics Drive the Writing of Headlines on ABC NewsI probably should not be surprised, but …BusinessMars Panorama — 10yo with iPad…

They called it a “flashlight” because early handheld lights weren’t designed to shine steadily

A student’s short story featuring a treasure hunt at an ancestral mansion uses a vintage name for the mistress of the house a vintage name and supplies a butler, suggesting a Victorian Engliand setting. But the story also used the term “flashlight” — an Americanism for what the Brits are more likely to call an “electric…

NYT: G.W. Bush is “super-overexposed” and “so far to our right” — so they omitted his presence from “Bloody Sunday” coverage

The quotes in my headline are accurate, but completely misleading. Saving this for an example in my journalism class, demonstrating the obligation that journalists have to avoid the perception of bias in their reporting. A photographer for The New York Times says the publication did not crop former President George W. Bush and first lady…

5 tips for choosing the right typeface

When it comes to picking a typeface, you can’t rely on gut alone. Making the right choice depends on function, context and a whole host of other factors. But how do you ensure you’re going about it the right way? Here we give you pointers to send you in the right direction…Creative Bloq. Similar:SMS Generator…

11 Problems to Anticipate Before Your Next Website Redesign

I’m building a new site for a non-profit and will probably be moving the student newspaper to a new template, so this is the time to think of such things. Similar:The Search for IT Relevence — Featuring Seton Hill IT Guru Phil Komarnyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGh6MasSU…AcademiaRespect the Text: Teaching Textual Primacy to Non-English MajorsIn the past, I have…

The Benefits of No-Tech Note Taking

I quibble with The Chronicle headline writer’s notion that paper & pencil are “no-tech,” but hand-written notes are valuable. Students tested right after a lecture tended to answer factual questions equally well regardless of how they took notes, but students who handwrote their notes did consistently better on conceptual questions. What’s more, when students were…